1999-03-30 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- Catholics lost and a group of gay and lesbian satirists won last night when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors failed to muster the needed votes to force the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to switch the date of their Castro Street birthday party from Easter Sunday.

Unanimous approval was needed for the move by Supervisor Alicia Becerril to rescind the board's March 1 vote granting the group a permit to close Castro Street between 17th and 18th streets. But at an extraordinary meeting in the South of Market Recreation Center, at which the issue was heatedly debated for more than two hours, Becerril could muster only two votes, her own and that of Supervisor Amos Brown's.

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The rhetoric at times was heated and always heartfelt. What was most unusual was Becerril's scolding of Board President Tom Ammiano, the openly gay supervisor who championed the group's right to demonstrate on Easter.

"You, Mr. President, are not president of just one segment of this community. You had an opportunity to bring people together on this issue. . . . Where was your leadership?" she asked.

Ammiano responded by saying that as a Catholic, a gay man and an officeholder pledged to uphold the U.S. Constitution, he was torn. "I offer an olive branch to you, Supervisor Becerril. . . . I say to you, walk a mile in my pumps."

The board's decision means that the Sisters -- who dress up in garish nun's habits and perform wild street theater -- will mark their 20th anniversary with a street fair from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

It was the March 1 action, which sailed through without controversy, that set off a hail of protests from Catholics. They contended that allowing the group to mock the Catholic Church on the holiest day of the Christian calendar -- and granting a stamp of approval by giving the group a permit to close a street -- was an unbearable insult.

The Sisters, who raise money for charities, responded that they were not anti-Catholic and that forcing their anniversary celebration to move from Easter would violate their free speech rights.

Speaking before last night's meeting, Sister Phyllis Stein, president of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, accused the San Francisco Archdiocese of "fostering a climate of intolerance and fear by insisting that city officials toe the archbishop's line on gay marriage, same-sex partner benefits and what a neighborhood may or may not do on Easter Sunday."

Supervisor Mark Leno, who supports the group's right to celebrate, said Stein's troupe "has the right to do theater on Easter Sunday," and called the archdiocese's attempt to have the street closure permit revoked "an intolerant act."

Before voting, the board heard from a few dozen speakers.

Referring to the Sisters, former U.S. Attorney Joseph Russionello said, "This is an organization that was conceived in mocking of the Catholic Church. They may be there next Sunday. But we will be there at the next election."

On the other side, parishioner Regis Rosseta of Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro supported the Sisters' rally. "I have no problem with the Sisters having their parade. I think it's a shame that the archbishop is trying to get a red (cardinal's) hat out of Rome by making an issue out of this."

But Mark Kliem, who is Sister Zsa Zsa Glamour in the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, held up his mock nun's habit and said, "Homophobia is based in fear. There are a lot of people who fear what this fabric represents."

Archdiocesan spokesman Maurice Healy said he hoped Catholics would ignore the Sisters.

"We just want our viewpoint listened to," he said. "If this event goes forward, we will have our own demonstration -- 1.4 million Bay Area Catholics going to Mass on Easter Sunday."

After the March 1 vote, an editorial appeared in Catholic San Francisco, the official newspaper of the archdiocese, attacking the decision.

Healy, the paper's editor, wrote that the Sisters "mock the Catholic Church." He compared allowing the Sisters to celebrate on Easter to "allowing a group of neo-Nazis to close a city street for a celebration on the Jewish feast of Passover."

Supervisors and Mayor Willie Brown, who signed the March 1 resolution, were flooded with calls, faxes, e-mails and letters from angry Catholics decrying the street closure. The issue became a staple of talk radio.

Some Catholic groups called for a boycott of San Francisco.

It was then that Becerril, backed by Amos Brown, asked that the decision be reconsidered.

Willie Brown also asked the Sisters to move their celebration to Saturday, the day before Easter.

The Sisters' original bid for permission to close the street was denied by the Department of Parking and Traffic, which cited concerns from merchants and the Municipal Railway.

The group then appealed to the supervisors, where openly gay members Leno and Ammiano sponsored legislation to close the block of Castro.

"This is a city that is renowned for its solemn respect for diverse viewpoints, religions and cultures, and for its insouciant spirit," Ehrlich wrote. "The city should not diverge from this proud and motley tradition -- not now and not ever."